Category: poems

It’s dark in here… did you hear that? I know there’s something here. I can see it, can’t you?

It’s dark in here
But only for the camera
I can see what’s in here, oh yes
The shifting, grotesque figures in the air;
The eyes, the eyes, over in the corner
LOOKING
RIGHT
AT
ME-

Turn the lights on and they’re gone
It’s not the same now
But they’ll be back, oh yes
As sure as sunrise
As sure as night falls
Heavy, like that thud – didn’t you hear it?
I’m sure it came from over there.

It’s light in here
FOR NOW
But the dark’ll be back
And I’ll see what’s in here, oh yes
I’ll see.

From rocks and sand and blistering heat
Came the silicon upon which it is built.
Ores of tin and iron, melted into copper and steel,
Make up the rest of your structure.

I wonder, sometimes, at how it was designed.
Some engineer sitting at his desk,
Tracing connections on paper that will one day
Be molded into silicon, at a million times smaller scale.

What an engineering marvel! What a technological triumph!
Circuits too small to be seen, mass-produced,
And sent around the world. How many other nameless twins
Does my computer have, locked away in some dark office?

I can remember all of its predecessors, primitive as they
Seem now. Back then, they were “state of the art,”
Fleshed in heavy steel frames and plastic covers.
Now they’re paperweights.

Bigger and better, faster and cheaper.
They sure don’t make ‘em like they used to!
Now, just a little touch of static
Is Death.

Power in, power out. AC to DC, 12 volts steady.
Its innards rumble, a familiar sound to me.
How much of my life have I spent
With my fingers poised on these plastic keys?

What wonders and miracles have come forth from this screen?
What noble purpose can I put this machine to now?
Who would have guessed, at age 10, that I would
Make a living at playing games?

Pop a CD in, and I can make music.
Click at the keys, and I can write poetry.
Point at the screen, and I can create art.
Talk to it, and it talks back!